Tail Of A Grunt
by Kooldip
Summary: Tail Of A Grunt follows the tidings of a young Team Rocket Grunt who's life changes on a ridiculous, but fateful encounter nonetheless.
1. Chapter 1: A Slow Start

**Hello readers, welcome to my very first 'fic'. This story has actually be edited over a span of 2 years and has been planned for longer. I'm finally satisfied with**

**what I've come up with and I'm now three chapters in. I'll be posting what I have finished thus far and then see what the reaction is before posting more. Any**

**and all criticism is more than welcome, I implore you all to leave some.**

**Cheers,**

**Kooldip/CaptainDiddy**

**NOTES**

**- Tail is spelled correctly**

- **Numbers that aren't spelled out are intentional**

**- Protagonist doesn't receive an official name until later**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**A SLOW START**

"Next" said the drone scientist, the long wait was finally over. I had been waiting for this day my whole life, the day this grunt finally received a Pokémon. My name, er

rather, my grunt name is F14-1, as I am the 14th grunt of squad "F" in building 1. I work for a criminal organization called Team Rocket Inc. However, Team Rocket

poses as an oil and gas conglomerate and so to the public, they no longer mean any harm. Team Rocket was a crime syndicate in the past, but after they hilariously

were taken down by a single trainer, they disbanded. Today is the day I receive my first Pokémon after a year of being with this dreadful organization. "Well, are you

going to take it?" asked the mindless drone aggressively, "Oh, yes, thank you" I said as I timidly made my way out of the lab.

* * *

"Squad F, which as you all know stands for "fools", meet in the conference room in 10 minutes!" yelled my slightly unpleasant commander from the lab I was just in. His

name is Commander Fredrick; no one ever says anything to him except "yes" due to his large stature and intimidatingly hideous face. I ran in to an empty break room

to see what Pokémon I was given. "Go Pokémon!" I passionately yelled. I stood there in shock, "Slooooooow" it said as I started to cry. My tears were not due to

elation, rather because this damn organization with all its money and power, gave me a Slowpoke. It stood there and stared at me, not moving an inch, "Um, hey, I'm

your new trainer, nice to meet you…" I said, as enthusiastically as possible. It didn't do anything, it just stood there, emulating a tree or a corpse; this was depressing.

I reached for its ball and sighed, "return" I said as I returned it back to its Pokeball, "ITS BEEN 10 MINUTES, ALL OF YOU REPORT HERE NOW!" screamed my

commander, how I heard him from in here was unbelievable. I ran to our room, the patterns on the gray walls ran past me in my furious sprint to our conference room.

"YOU! YOU'RE LATE!" "yes commander, I apologize" I said in my wimpiest voice, "Hah! That's not gonna work on me, I have a nice punishment for you! Ohohohoh!" he

smugly said, this was painful. Listen up, I have some missions for all of you, you have to use your newly acquired Pokémon to achieve these. You all have until

tomorrow morning at 10am sharp, any failures will receive severe punishments, do not disappoint me! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!?" "Yes commander!" we all yelled in

approval. "Good, come to my desk to receive your mission" I got in line behind everyone; all of these lifeless robots just did what they were told without any question.

I had no friends here, my new companion, as dopey and stupid as he seemed, is now my first real friend. The line quickly cleared, I approached Commander Fredrick,

"commander, may I have my mission?" I asked. Everyone in the room stopped their conversations and looked towards us. He looked down at me, "hah, yeah here you

go, good luck, this mission was meant for an executive, but because of your tardiness, it's now yours." I swallowed my pride and accepted the envelope holding my

impending doom. The entire room looked on in silence as I walked out of our meeting room, one person snickered and eventually the entire room was filled with

horrible laughter. I looked back, took a deep breath and slammed the door behind me.

* * *

I made my way outside of the building, which was known as "Rocket HQ 3". It was located on Route 8, in the middle of a small forest near Lavender town. This was the

1stbuilding out of 3 located around Kanto, Johto and the Orre region. I took out the envelope and started to read the contents inside, "The following mission is a two

person mission-" two person mission?! I'm going to strangle him. "You and your partner will travel to both Pallet town and New Bark Town of Johto to visit their

respective laboratories. There are 3 Pokémon at each lab, these 6 Pokémon are going to be given out next week to 6 different trainers, our goal is to steal these

Pokémon. All of the trainers that have foiled our plans in the past have used these Pokémon, not only will we be lowering our chances of once again disbanding, we

increase our chances of survival by using these Pokémon ourselves, do not disappoint us." I pondered for a moment, trying to figure out some kind of plan. "Go

Slowpoke" I said as I released my Pokémon, he just gave me a blank stare, "I know you're half psychic Slowpoke, teleport me to Pallet Town… please" I said

desperately, what else could I do? He of course did nothing. I sighed, "Alright Slowpoke, we better start walking, maybe some exercise will wake your brain up." We

started our trek, I figured I could sneak on the magnet train in Saffron and head to Viridian from there; thankfully they expanded the lines for the train.

* * *

I walked towards the edge of the small forest surrounding us. It was about noon, which gave us less than 24 hours to complete this, my hope was fading fast. "Hey

you" said a voice, It sounded like it came from behind me, I swiftly looked behind me only to see the path I was just walking on. "I hear you need some help" said the

voice again, this time it came from the left, I noticed a bush move slightly, "Slowpoke, use… er never mind, I have no idea what you can do" I shamefully said, "Slow?"

the damn thing said. I made my way over to the bush, "Ah ha!" I yelled as I stomped right through it, no one was there. "Up here!" said the voice, I looked up and

thankfully he didn't disappear, "I hear you've met with some misfortune, let's see if I can help!" he jumped down from the tree as Slowpoke and I just stared in shock.

"Nice to meet ya kid, the name's Leumas" he extended his hand; I just continued to stare at him, let me explain. This guy was the weirdest person I had ever seen in

my life. He looked to be about 50 years old, he was in possession of thinning shoulder length orange, yes orange, hair. To go along with that hair he had a matching

handlebar mustache, his skin was extremely tanned, police style aviators, dark blue sweatpants, a t-shirt that said "My other boat is a Lapras" and a worn out

baseball cap. I extended my hand without taking an eye of his ridiculous attire; "Um, yeah" I said slowly, I shook his hand. "You said you could help me right?" I said

slowly as I started to remember what he said while he was in that tree, "Yes I did! Let me explain, I am also in Team Rocket! A2-2 is what I'm referred to as over

there." For him to be A2-2 essentially means he is 2nd in command for the highest ranking group, I don't believe that for a second. "I saw the "M" on your uniform

patch and figured that since it was assignment day for you guys, Freddy would be handing out assignments, I'm also well aware that he's a compl-." "Wait… you're 2nd

in command for group "A" in Johto… and you've been here all day, sitting in a tree?" Exactly! So, what did he hand out to you today?" asked Leumas. I gazed at him

with an extreme puzzled look on my face, not only was I completely confused on why he looked like a clown, a high ranking Rocket is apparently trying to help me, is

this real? Despite my reservations about him, I handed him the envelope, I unfortunately needed to get this done. "Have a look" I said with a depressed tone. "I was

late to the meeting so I got this mission and I only have a day to complete it" I explained, "A day?! To do all of this?! Holy Arceus, we've got some work to do! Go

Alakazam, get us home!" he released his amazing psychic Pokémon from its Pokeball; I was speechless and so jealous at the same time. His Alakazam nodded, I

started to see white and then within seconds we were out in front of a house.

* * *

"Thanks a lot Alakazam, you magnificent beast", he returned it back to its ball. "Welcome to my home!" he exclaimed, his expression changed in to confusion as he

started to look over my shoulder, "Is that your Slowpoke?" he asked, "Oh, yeah it is, I got it today" I said as I tried to hold back tears of disappointment. "Oh, I

thought it was just following you or something, well in that case" he starting walking over towards Slowpoke, kneeled down and picked him up. "Hello you beautiful

creature, welcome to my home, I love you." He kissed it on the forehead, put it down back on the ground and Slowpoke's expression didn't change once. He started to

walk towards his house "come on in guys!" he shouted. I stood there with the most puzzled look on my face, who on earth was this guy? I shrugged my shoulders and

started to walk towards the house, "let's roll, you dope", he looked up slowly and followed me, at least he could understand English.

* * *

"Have a seat you two" he said pointing to a couch in what I imagine was his living room. It was a nice place; his living room had a tall ceiling, white walls, a big tv on a

stand across from me and sliding doors to my left that went out in to a backyard. "Not too be a pest but I really have to get this mission done" I said, he took a seat

on a lounge chair next to me, "relax, I'll get Alakazam to teleport us to the labs and we'll be done in a heartbeat. I just wanted to spend a second to get to know you."

"Uh, well ok, I'm known as M27-1 back at the base, I'm from Celedon City where I lived with my parents until about last year. As a kid, I really wanted to become a

Pokémon trainer, it was my dream and my one goal in life, unfortunately that never happened. My parents started to become heavily involved in alcohol and gambling,

at the Celedon Game Corner mind you, when I was about 11 years old. They had no time or money for me, but for some reason they were adamant about me not

becoming a Pokémon Trainer. Infuriated about this, I wanted nothing but to leave home. When I was 16, I got a job with Team Rocket Inc. not realizing what they

really were. During my interview they brought up other opportunities about helping on the crime side of things. I was informed about many things, but only two

mattered. They told me I'd be able to live at headquarters and I would also receive a Pokémon after 1 year. Once they said that, I immediately signed away my life

without hesitation. I went home, told my parents I was leaving and never returning. They were completely wasted during this and seemed to not care in the slightest.

I don't know if they attempted to find me or not, but I don't really care if they did. My first year on the job was spent doing training, large group missions and a few

solo missions. Unfortunately I still haven't made any friends because I hate all of my idiot co-workers. After all that, I got a Pokémon today and as much as I think it's a

complete failure, I couldn't be happier." Leumas gave me a approving look, "Is your dream still alive?" he asked, I chuckled "as much as I wish it could be, my future is

looking quite bleak, I'm not a 10 year old kid anymore either." He pondered in thought for a second before saying anything. "You're a very genuine person M27-2 of

Squad M, I will help you with your mission now" he grabbed a Pokeball and brought out his Alakazam. I looked over at Slowpoke who was just lying there motionless,

"Ready bud?" I asked him, he looked up at me and nodded slowly, his expression did not change once. "Alakazam, take us to Pallet Town, we've got work to do!"

* * *

His Alakazam gave him a cheery look and with that we were teleported on to a hill on looking down at a small town. Nice looking place, the lawns were perfect, the

trees were full and huge, people were waving and smiling at each other and at the top of another hill that overlooked the town, there was a building with a windmill.

"Isn't this place incredible?" said Leumas, "I love coming here, reminds me of home. We should roll on forward though, we've got work to do" I nodded and we all

headed off. It wasn't an adventure that I imagined I would be doing in Pallet Town, but, it was an adventure no less…


	2. Chapter 2: The Metamorphosing Man

**Off to Pallet Town we go! I hope you're enjoying TOAG thus far.**

* * *

****

Chapter 2

THE METAMORPHOSING MAN

* * *

"I suppose I could have teleported us to the lab…" said Leumas, "Oh well, it's a beautiful day outside, your Slowpoke could probably use a walk anyway, let's

get going!" I was in agreement there, it was actually a nice day. It's nice to have a change of scenery whenever possible, headquarters is the most depressing place

in Kanto.

* * *

We arrived at the edge of the town, "Welcome to Pallet Town!" the sign read. This was almost a sad sight, oh how I longed for this moment to be so much different.

There was also something scribbled underneath the sign, it was barely readable, "Blue rules! Red is stupid" it read. Wonder what that meant, are people here not a

fan of the colour red? "Alright kid, we're going to walk through town, you can't be in Rocket attire so I brought you some clothes." "Oh, awesome, thank-" I froze mid-

sentence due to the complete shock of what was being held up in front of me. He brought me a pair of his awful sweatpants and a white shirt that read "Can I Pikachu

in the shower?"…seriously, this guy is insane. "Do I honestly have to wear this?" I asked, "well, it's this or get Officer Jenny on you, I don't think you want her showing

up here." Unfortunately, he was right, Jenny and her army of clones are a bunch of tyrants. I put on his horrible clothes and we were off.

* * *

"Hey Leumas, what have you been here for in the past?" I asked, "Eh, just missions from a few years ago, this isn't the first time that this has been assigned you

know." "So, how exactly did you do it the other times?" I asked, "I failed, every single time. Now I was on edge a little, this guy was pretty much just using me to

avenge his previous embarrassments. Oh well, as long as I get this done, I'm happy.

* * *

The lab was only a short distance away now, we passed this one home that caught my eye and there was a Mr. Mime, doing chores, only Pokémon I've seen do work

are the ones Team Rocket force to work, this thing was smiling! "Hey keep up kid We're almost there!" yelled Leumas, who was literally 2 feet in front of me, this guy

needs glasses or something.

* * *

We finally reached the bottom of the hill that hoisted the legendary laboratory, what a sight it was. "Alright, I think I know how to get in there, just follow me" Leumas

confidently said, I obliged and followed him as he started to ascend the hill.

* * *

"Leumas… why are we at the front door?" I asked while putting my palm on my face, "because young man, I happen to be in the possession of a key! What you have

failed to think of is the fact that the front door is the smartest point of entry, what person sits at their front door all day? He is going to be in his lab, or kitchen,

possibly even his basement. I am actually a genius!" "Ok, I get it! Show-off" I said, slightly embarrassed. He unlocked the door and we headed inside.

* * *

"Alright, just follow me, I know this place inside out. Stay alert though, we don't want to be running in to anyone" Leumas said as we explored the innards of the lab.

Leumas was like a police dog sniffing out a criminal, he could probably find these Pokémon with his eyes closed. "Seen anything?" Leumas asked, "No, I can't hear

anyone either, seems like the place is deserted" I said back, "good, we'll be out of here in no time, don't bring your guard down though, if we get caught we're in

trouble, I don't want to have to use Alakazam." I assured him I'm watching out, he seemed really paranoid, or I was just being careless. We walked by a wall that had

picture frames all the way down it. They were pictures of an older man with a lab coat, who I assumed was Professor Oak, and his pupils with their new Pokémon. I

followed Leumas down some stairs which lead to a room, filled to the brim, with Pokeballs.

* * *

There were shelves and shelves stretching down a very long corridor. "We aren't taking all of these are we?" I asked in amazement, "No, he only has one of each

Pokemon, follow me." We approached a door that needed a card key to open, "Uh, now what do w-" he proceeded to pull out a card key from his back pocket and

swipe the door open… I swear he lives here… Or he's the janitor. I've been with this guy, for only a few hours and he is already the most bizarre person I have ever

encountered, by a mile.

* * *

"Feast your eyes young man, your targets await you." He turned on a light and there they were, the three prized Pokémon I had so desperately wanted, protected by

feeble glass dome, only a few steps away. "Sloooow" said Slowpoke, reminding me that I already had a Pokémon... damn Slowpoke. "Don't get too excited, we need

to grab these and go, hurry." I focused and approached the Pokeballs, they laid dormant, waiting for release. Pressed a button that was labeled "Open" and the glass

barrier protecting the Pokeballs was opened. I picked them up, meticulously, had to make sure they were kept in pristine condition. I realized that I forgot a bag so I

just attached them to my belt; this was the greatest feeling ever. "Ok, let's get to New Bark To-" Leumas was interrupted, a light turned on and voices started to

descend down the stairs. "Oh no, put the Pokeballs back and hide, now!" Leumas fired, "But, I… I can't" I stuttered back, "Put, them, back." He firmly and coldly said. I

took one last sentimental look at them and put them back as I was told. He frantically reached for this belt, "Alakazam, take us to the back of the lab" his demeanour

had completely changed; the happy go lucky weird guy was gone. Alakazam quickly made his arrival, the voices drew closer as they were now at the bottom of the

staircase, "let's go Alakazam!" Leumas yelled.

* * *

We were instantly teleported outside the lab, essentially putting us back to square one. "I heard someone say, "what was that?!" right before we were teleported", I

told Leumas. "Hmm, that's not good, they know we're here now. He pondered for a moment, got up off the ground, brushed himself off and then proceeded to tell me,

"ok, I have an idea, don't ask any questions, just go with it" he firmly said. I looked up at him and nodded, "do what you need to do Leumas." He smiled and ran off

behind a nearby tree, clothes were being flung everywhere as I, along with Slowpoke and Alakazam, looked on in confusion. "Alrighty, now we should be good to go!"

he exclaimed with much joy. My eyes widened in shock as he walked out from behind the tree, he looked identical to the man in those pictures, who I'm now certain

was Professor Oak. "Uh… Leumas, how did you do this?" I asked, "well kiddo, you learn a few tricks here and there along a long career like mine, but I said no

questions, put Slowpoke away and make sure your Pokeball is hidden." I obliged as he also returned Alakazam to its Pokeball, we started to approach the front door

once again, I wanted to ask him a million questions but unfortunately, he prepared for that by telling me to keep my mouth shut, oh well, as long as this mission gets

completed, I don't care what happens.

* * *

He once again unlocked the front door and we once again ascended the same stairs leading to the prized Pokémon. I attempted to open my mouth and ask him why

on earth we were heading right back to the spot where we almost got captured , but he turned right around before I could say a word and gave me a sharp look that

was enough to let me know to shut up. I rolled my eyes at him, shrugged my shoulders and we made it to the bottom of the stairs. "Hey there Professor! Good timing,

I need some help here with the little one here here, he's being… stubborn" said a mysterious voice, "Ah, I would be glad to help!" said Leumas, he somehow changed

his voice, this is creepy. We walked in to the room and joined the other two individuals, the one who spoke to Leumas looked like an assistant of sorts, he was

wearing a lab coat, had glasses and had a hair style that almost resembled a bowl cut. The other one was a small child, he was wearing an old ratty red jacket and hat

to match and he looked really annoyed for some reason. "Uh Professor, who is this?" asked his assistant, "Oh, my apologies, this is Gray, he's here to take one of

these three Pokémon today." Oh how I wanted this to be true, this guy is a unbelievable, toying with me like this and my name isn't Gray! "Today?! But Professor,

aren't we suppose to wait until next week?" "No need to worry Tracy, the other two trainers won't mind if Gray gets a head start" Tracy looked up at me and asked

"Uh professor, no offense to you Gray, but isn't he a little too old?" "Of course n…" "EXCUSE ME!" yelled the little kid out of nowhere. Leumas jumped and looked down

at the kid, "I WANT MY POKÉMON TOO! YOU PROMISED!" "Oh, of course, my apologies Red, I have a special one for you" replied Leumas. What is happening right now?

How is doing this? He is either very good at improvising or he is actually Professor Oak. "GOOD, I WANT IT NOW!" Leumas pretended to unplug his ears and looked up

at Tracey, "Uh, Tracey, could you go get Red's Pokémon for me please?" He asked. "I would… but you never told me what he was getting or where it was…" he replied,

"Oh… right, I'll be right back then." I face palmed internally as he walked past me, this was ridiculous, I had no idea what he was up to and I have to stand here like an

idiot and pretend to play along.

* * *

"So, Gray, where are you from?" asked Tracey in an effort to not make this awkward, I looked up at him swiftly and replied with "Oh, I'm from… Fuchsia City." "Fuchsia

City, eh? You must know all about what Team Rocket did to the Safari Zone, that was a horrible tragedy." I froze up, the event he was referring to was from 6 months

ago, Team Rocket went to the Safari Zone in an attempt to steal all of the Pokémon and kill all of the wildlife in the process, and unfortunately they were planning to

use bombs to do this. They botched the process due to a bomb going off on its own and many Pokémon were left to die, it was horrible. A few grunts and an executive

were arrested, but they all told the police the same story. As apart of our training, we are suppose to learn very intricate details about a decoy story, just in case we

are arrested. "Gray, you there? What's up?" Tracey said, I snapped out of my little flash back and replied, "Oh yeah, sorry… yeah, that was pretty awful." The room fell

silent; thankfully I could hear footsteps coming back to the room.

* * *

"I found it!" Leumas exclaimed, "Professor, what you do mean by "found it"?" Tracy replied, "Oh, don't worry about that Tracy" he said accompanied by a nervous

chuckle. "FINALLY! I thought you'd never come back, these two morons were boring me to tears!" Said Red, "Eh heh, of course… well, here you go" Leumas handed the

Pokeball to Red, his expression seemed all too familiar, although I haven't seen myself look like that, I know that's how I looked when I first got Slowpoke. "GO

POKÉMON!" he yelled and out came… a weird grey fish, "Feebas" it uttered… it was just splashing in place, this was ridiculous. "THIS IS… AMAZING! MY FIRST

POKÉMON! FEEBAS AND I ARE GOING TO RULE THE WORLD!" He yelled with some major enthusiasm. The three of us looked at him in shock, Tracey then looked at

Leumas and asked "Feebas? Really Professor?" Leumas, looking like he had no idea what it was going to be, nervously jolted his head towards Tracy and said "Of

course Tracy, Red will learn the true, uh, the true ways of being a trainer." Tracy looked at him with a puzzled look, he shrugged his shoulders and said "You're the

professor, you know what you're doing, that's good enough for me." "Of course, now could you take little Red home for me? I'll wrap up with Gray here and see you in

a bit" "Yeah, no problem Professor, see ya in a few" and with that, Tracy took the enthralled Red home with him.

* * *

Impostor Professor Oak pondered for a moment, "that was Red. Jr, his father was the former champion of Kanto, unfortunately his father died when Jr was only 2

years old." I stared intently at him, "Leumas, how did you know that about him?" He looked back up at me, "Questions for another time, kiddo. Grab those Pokeballs,

we're heading off to New Bark Town."


	3. Chapter 3: It Pays, To Be Gray

**We can now start referring to the protagonist as "Gray". I had to pick the most drab colour lol **

* * *

**Chapter 3**  
IT PAYS, TO BE GRAY

* * *

"Alright Alakazam, this is good, thanks buddy" he said to his spoon wielding Pokémon. We were standing behind a large building; I assumed this was the lab. I looked

towards the ground, "Leumas, I really appreciate this, you're truly a life saver. But, this whole thing is really strange. You called me by a different name, you knew

about Red Jr back at the lab and you knew the assistants name. Who are you?" He took a deep breath, "Listen, I will explain everything once we've got this mission

done for you, deal?" I deliberated for a second, "Alright, let's get this done." "Wonderful, let's head to the front door, shall we?" The front door again? No wonder he

failed to get the Pokémon from Kanto.

* * *

As we walked out from behind the lab, the small town was exposed and much like Pallet, it was a beautiful place. In front of the lab there was a two way walking path,

on the other side of that, a line of 8 small houses stood together. To the left of the town, there was a small body of glistening water.

We stood in front of the lab now, my heart started to race, we had to totally improvise on the spot in Kanto, what was going to happen now? "Hey pal, have a look

through the window to see if they're there" Leumas said to me, how many alternate names for 'friend' does he have? I approached the window cautiously and had a

look inside. Two men were sitting at a table drinking from tea cups; they were both wearing lab coats. I walked back over to Leumas, "there's two inside, they're

sitting and drinking tea" I reported. Leumas rubbed his chin, "hmm, ok, I've got an idea, let's go inside."

* * *

We approached the door, he looked at me, "one thing before we go inside, as soon as you hear someone say, 'call your mother', that will be your signal. You have to

grab the Pokeballs and put them on your belt. Make sure they are hidden" "Ok, I got it" I responded. Leumas opened the door and the two men looked towards us,

"I.. Is that you professor?" one asked, "Indeed it is! Hello old friend" responded Leumas, who changed his voice back to Professor Oaks. "Oh my, this is wonderful!

What brings you out to New Bark? Oh, and who is this?" He asked as he looked towards me. "This, young Elm, is Gray, he is one of my three trainers" said Leumas,

what was with this name? "Elm looks towards me, "It's a pleasure, Gray. Congrats on being chosen." he said with a smile. "As for why I'm here, can we speak in

private?" Leumas said to Elm, "Oh, yes, let's go outside for a moment." Elm looked back at me and his assistant, "Gray, this is my assistant, Gold. You two can get

acquainted while we're gone." Elm and Leumas went outside, leaving me and Gold.

* * *

Once again, I'm alone with a lab assistant and I have no idea what's happening… wonderful. "Hi, Gray, I'm gold. It's a pleasure to meet you" he extended his hand,

"Uh, yeah, ditto" I replied and shook his hand. We stood in awkward silence, he looked at me like he was waiting for me to say something, I avoided eye contact at

any cost. "Sorry, Gray, usually people start blabbing to me over my past, I guess you aren't aware." I looked at him, "aware of what, exactly?" "Oh, nothing, I'm just

the former Pokémon champion of Johto" my expression changed to shock as I started to stutter. "Y..you're the ch… champion?" "Hahaha! Well, I'm the former champion

now. I was defeated last year after a nine year reign. My opponent was actually a trainer that I knew prior to defeating the Elite 4, his name is Silver."

* * *

He stopped talking suddenly and looked towards a picture on the wall of the lab. It was a picture of Elm, Gold and red haired guy; they looked happy. "That's us, 5

years ago, Silver is the one with the Red hair. Silver had initially stolen a Pokémon from the Professor the day I started my own journey, but after I had taken down

Team Rocket, he came to us and apologized. He eve-" I quickly interrupted "Wait… you're the one that defeated Team Rocket?! Gold, I can't explain why, but you're a

hero of mine. Continue, please" "Hahaha, well thank you. Anyway, he even offered to return the Pokémon he stole, but Elm insisted that he keep it. After that day, Elm

made it his mission to get to know Silver and as a result, he became Elm's assistant." I wasn't sure why he was telling me all of this, but I was intrigued to say the

least. "We all became friends eventually, Silver had dedicated his life to researching Pokémon psychology under Elm and I continued to defend my title. Life was really

good."

* * *

He stopped again and looked at a third chair that stood with the two chairs he and Elm were sitting at. "Uh, Gold, everything ok?" I asked as he seemed to freeze up.

His head jolted towards me, "Oh, yes, sorry. I think it would be best if we continued this another time, sorry I talked your ear off." I laughed, "Hey, don't worry about

it! I thought I would just be standing here in silence with you, so that was nice." Of course my curiosity was through the roof, I'd really like to know what happened

with Silver, especially if he was the reason that Gold was defeated.

* * *

The door suddenly opened, "Uh, Gold, could you please come outside? The professor would like a word." Gold looked over at Elm, "Yeah, sure thing, Professor." Gold

walked outside as Elm stayed at the door. "Hey, Gray, the Professor wanted me to tell you to call your mother." My eyes widened and adrenaline started pumping, this

was it. "Right, I'll do that right away" I replied. The door closed leaving me alone in the lab and I immediately started looking for the Pokémon.

* * *

It didn't take very long as they were sitting on a small table, this was it. I grabbed the first ball and put it on my belt and I did the same for the second. I grabbed the

third one and I suddenly realized that I had a serious problem, I already had six Pokémon on my belt. I panicked, I had no idea what I was going to do, why couldn't I

have gotten Slowpoke tomorrow? I didn't even need him for this. Amidst my panic attack, a light breeze had entered the lab. I walked towards the source of this

breeze and I started crying tears of joy as an open window stared back at me. I took the Pokeball and through it outside. It was done, I secured the 6 Pokeballs, I

can't believe it. I did a mini celebration dance, pulled down my ridiculous shirt to cover my belt and walked back to where I was standing.

* * *

Suddenly, a computer sitting behind the small table made a little chiming sound. The speakers then started talking, "Professor, an email dated August 24th, 2013, has

been replied to. Contact, Silver, is the sender." I froze in place and processed what I just heard. I slowly turned around to in fact see that Professor Elm had received a

new e-mail. I don't know what came of me, what I walked straight over to his computer and opened the e-mail. "Hello, Professor. My apologies for the year late reply,

you know how much I hate tardiness. I do not owe you an update, but I will let you know that I am alive. Do not try to contact me again, otherwise you will meet the

same fate as these Rockets. Goodbye." I just stared at the screen, the amount of questions I have developed over the past five hours is too many for any human to

handle. I just walked away, I really didn't want to know what he meant by "you will meet the same fate as these Rockets" because I can only assume the worst.

The door opened up and the three of them walked back inside. I was unphased by their arrival, there were too many things going through my head. "Gray, are you

there?" said Leumas, I looked up to see all three of them staring at me. I snapped out of my trans like state, "Oh, hah, yeah sorry. Just thinking about something" I

replied back. "Alright, well we should go now" Leumas said, "Thanks for talking with me, you two. Have a good day!" "Our pleasure" said Professor Elm. Gold looked

towards me, "Hey, Gray, it was a nice to meet you, I hope I see you again" he extended his hand and I shook it. "Yeah, that would be nice" I replied.

* * *

We walked and as soon as we were out of sight, we ran to the back of the lab. "You got them?" Leumas asked, "Yeah I got them, but I didn't have room for one so I

threw it out the window." "Ok, that's fine, grab it and let's get out of here." He said as we approached the spot we arrived at. I went over to where I threw the

Pokeball and what I saw made my insides wrench harder than anything I've ever experienced. The ball was open.

* * *

**That'll do it for now! I hope you enjoyed reading and I look forward to any and all feedback. I don't have a set schedule for uploads, but I'll try to get chapters up whenever I can. Being consistent whilst meeting my own standards isn't easy lol**


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